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ST. MARON'S DAY PRESENTATION OH YE FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OF ST. MARON. WE GATHER HERE TODAY TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST DAY OF THIS REMARKABLE SAINT, THE FOUNDER OF OUR MARONITE CATHOLIC RITE. THE MARONITE RITE IS COMPRISED OF OVER 10 MILLION MEMBERS LOCATED IN PARISHES AND MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD... AND ALL OF THESE FAITHFUL TRACE THEIR ROOTS TO ST. MARON. SO TODAY, WE WILL REVIEW THE HISTORY OF OUR PATRON SAINT, OTHER NOTABLE MARONITES, AND OUR LINKS TO THE FIRST CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD. THE STORY BEGINS WITH THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST. FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS THEREAFTER, HIS APOSTLES SPREAD HIS MESSAGE THROUGHOUT THE KNOWN WORLD. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY TO BE KNOWN AS SUCH WAS ESTABLISHED IN ANTIOCH IN ANCIENT SYRIA BY ST. PAUL, THE GREATEST OF THE APOSTLES. IN ANTIOCH, ST. PAUL LABORED FOR ONE YEAR TO FORM THE FIRST ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIANS. IT WAS THERE IN ANTIOCH THAT THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST WOULD FIRST BE CALLED "CHRISTIANS", THE NAME BY WHICH THEY WOULD HENCEFORTH BE KNOWN TO THE WORLD. FROM ANTIOCH, ST. PAUL WOULD SPREAD THE GOSPEL WESTWARD ACROSS THE ROMAN WORLD. NARRATOR NO. 2: OUR PATRON SAINT, ST. MARON, WAS BORN AND RAISED NEAR ANTIOCH. HE RECEIVED HIS EARLY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FROM THE SUCCESSORS OF ST. PAUL. FROM THE FIRST CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN ANTIOCH, OTHER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES HAD GROWN AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT SYRIA AND LEBANON. THESE COMMUNITIES OF CHRISTIANS POSED SPECIAL PROBLEMS FOR THE ROMAN AUTHORITIES IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED. ALLEGIANCES TO ANYONE OTHER THAN THE EMPEROR WAS A THREAT TO THE THRONE AND THE PERCEIVED DEITY OF THE EMPEROR. WHEN ROME BURNED TO THE GROUND IN 64 AD, NERO BLAMED THE CATASTROPHE ON THE CHRISTIANS' REFUSAL TO OFFER SACRIFICE TO THE ROMAN GODS, AND THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS WERE MASSACRED AS A RESULT. NERO WAS THE FIRST ROMAN EMPEROR TO PROCLAIM THAT BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY WAS A CRIME AGAINST THE STATE. CHRISTIANS WERE THEREAFTER PUT TO DEATH UNLESS THEY RENOUNCED THEIR FAITH. NARRATOR NO. 1: IT WAS DURING THESE EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES THAT MARTYRDOM BECAME THE SUPREME SACRIFICE ONE COULD MAKE FOR HIS OR HER FAITH, AND MANY OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS SUFFERED THIS FATE. BUT IN 330 AD, THE ROMAN EMPEROR CONSTANTINE CAME TO POWER AND ENDED THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS. TWENTY YEARS LATER, IN 350 AD, ST. MARON WAS BORN IN CYRRHUS, SYRIA, A SMALL TOWN OUTSIDE ANTIOCH, AT A TIME WHEN THE SURVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY WAS STILL IN DOUBT, SINCE ONLY 10% OF THE POPULATION HAD CONVERTED TO THE NEW RELIGION. NARRATOR NO. 2: WITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN WORLD, MARTYRDOM WAS NO LONGER THE SUPREME SACRIFICE. THE HOLY MEN OF CHRISTIANITY HAD TO SEEK OTHER MEANS OF RELIGIOUS PERFECTION. AS A RESULT, A NEW CONCEPT OF DISCIPLESHIP BASED ON SELF DENIAL, REPLACED MARTYRDOM FOR THOSE WHO STRIVED FOR PERFECTION IN THEIR FAITH. THEY LOOKED TO THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW FOR GUIDANCE AND FOUND WITHIN HIS GOSPEL THE PRACTICE OF CELIBACY, POVERTY, AND HOMELESSNESS IN A STATE OF SOLITUDE, AND THEY ADOPTED THIS PRACTICE AS THE NEW EXPRESSION OF PERFECTION IN THEIR FAITH, THE SUPREME AND ULTIMATE SUBMISSION TO GOD, AND A SURE MEANS TO ENTER HIS KINGDOM. NARRATOR NO. 1: BECAUSE OF THIS CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP, A PHENOMENON WOULD COME TO FULL FRUITION IN THE 4TH CENTURY, DURING THE TIME OF ST. MARON, WHICH WOULD CAUSE AN EXPLOSION IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, BRING CHRISTIANITY TO THE FRONT STEP OF THE PAGAN WORLD, AND TRIGGER MASS CONVERSIONS TO THE NEW FAITH: THIS PHENOMENON WAS THE BIRTH OF THE ASCETICS. (ST. MARON APPROACHES THE PODIUM) ST. MARON WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST ASCETICS IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY. HE EPITOMIZED THIS NEW FORM OF WORSHIP. HE WAS THE FIRST INFLUENTIAL EXPONENT OF OPEN-AIR ASCETICISM, WORSHIPING IN THE OPEN AIR, WITHOUT SHELTER OR SUITABLE CLOTHING, FOR YEARS ON END, IN PRAYER TO GOD. HIS SOLE PURPOSE IN LIFE WAS TO DEVOTE HIS ENTIRE BEING TO PRAYER AND WORSHIP. ST. MARON: I AM MARON. I WAS BORN IN CYRRHUS, NEAR ANTIOCH, WHERE THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH BEGAN. I RECEIVED MY EARLY CHRISTIAN TRAINING FROM THE HOLY MEN OF THE REGION, BEGINNING WITH THE FIRST BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, ST. IGNATIUS. I SOUGHT A GREATER PERFECTION IN MY CHRISTIAN FAITH AND FOUNDED A NEW ORDER OF WORSHIP BASED UPON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, WHEREIN HE TEACHES CELIBACY, POVERTY, AND HOMELESSNESS IN A STATE OF SOLITUDE. THIS ORDER REQUIRES THE DEPRIVATION OF ALL WORLDLY PLEASURES AND NEEDS; IT REQUIRES CONTINUOUS FASTING, THE TREATMENT OF THE BODY AS DEAD TO THE WORLD. MY ORDER OF WORSHIP REQUIRES THAT I LOOK ONLY TO THE SPIRITUAL FOR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION. I PREACHED THIS FORM OF WORSHIP FIRST IN APAMEA, SYRIA, WHERE I GAINED MANY FOLLOWERS. IN LATER YEARS, I ASCENDED TO THE TOP OF MOUNT NABO NEAR ANTIOCH WHERE I CONVERTED A PAGAN TEMPLE INTO A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND THERE I LIVED FOR YEARS IN THE OPEN AIR. THE TWIN PILLARS OF THE MARONITE FAITH, "WORK" AND "PRAYER", WERE FOUNDED THERE, ON MT. NABO. IT WAS THERE THAT I GUIDED AND TRAINED 18 DISCIPLES WHO CARRIED ON THIS UNIQUE BRAND OF MARONITE MONASTIC EXISTENCE. NARRATOR NO. 2: WHEN WORD REACHED THE COUNTRYSIDE AND CITIES AS FAR OFF AS WESTERN EUROPE OF THIS MONK MARON, THE HOLY MAN, WHO WAS IN CONSTANT PRAYER AND COMMUNICATION WITH GOD, WHO DENIED HIMSELF WORLDLY NEEDS, THE MASSES CAME TO HEAR HIM SPEAK, TO BEAR WITNESS TO THIS MAN OF GOD, TO SEEK HIS BLESSINGS, AND TO BE CURED OF THEIR AILMENTS. THE PILGRIMS WOULD WANT TO TOUCH THE MONK, TAKE ANY ARTIFACT FROM HIS SURROUNDINGS, A PIECE OF CLOTHING HE HAD WORN, AN OBJECT WHICH HE HAD TOUCHED, EVEN DIRT FROM THE GROUND HE WALKED. FROM MT. NABO, A GARDEN OF BLESSINGS WOULD SPRING FORTH AS ST. MARON PREACHED AND PERFORMED MIRACLES, HEALING BOTH BODY AND SOUL, SO THAT BY THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, HE HAD A HUGE FOLLOWING OF FAITHFUL FROM AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE AND WITHIN THE CITIES. IN TIME, ASCETICS SUCH AS MARON, WOULD BE CONSIDERED THE CLOSEST LIVING BEINGS TO GOD. AFTER ST.MARON'S DEATH, THE INHABITANTS OF NEARBY KEFAR-NABO CAME IN GREAT NUMBERS TO REMOVE HIS REMAINS TO THEIR VILLAGE AND THEY BUILT OVER THEM A MAGNIFICENT CHURCH. (ST. SIMEON APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NARRATOR NO. 1: BUT THE MOST MAGNIFICENT EDIFICE, THE REMAINS OF WHICH STILL EXIST TODAY, WAS BUILT IN HONOR OF ONE OF ST. MARON'S MOST ACCLAIMED AND WELL KNOWN DISCIPLES, ST. SIMEON THE STYLITE. ST. SIMEON TOOK THE ASCETIC FORM OF LIFE TO ITS VERY CLIMAX. HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO LIVE ON TOP OF A 70-FOOT-HIGH PILLAR, IN OPEN AIR, WITHOUT ANY SHELTER WHATSOEVER, FOR A PERIOD OF OVER 40 YEARS. ST. SIMEON: I CHAINED MYSELF TO THE TOP OF THE PILLAR SO THAT I WOULD NOT FALL IN MY SLEEP. THOSE WHO ASSISTED IN MY MISSION WOULD SEND FOOD UP BY ROPE AND BUCKET. I WOULD NOT COME DOWN FROM THE PILLAR EVEN IN BAD WEATHER, OR WHEN I WAS SICK, PREFERRING TO REGARD MY BODY AS DEAD TO THE WORLD. FOR 40 YEARS I REMAINED ON TOP OF THE PILLAR......THERE I WAS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT AND CLOSENESS TO GOD. NARRATOR NO. 1: THE FAME OF ST. SIMEON'S SANCTITY AND NEWS OF HIS MIRACLES REACHED AS FAR AS EUROPE AND ASIA. PILGRIMS FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE KNOWN WORLD CAME TO VISIT HIM AND SEEK COUNSEL AND HEALING. MANY OF THOSE PILGRIMS WERE THE PHOENICIAN INHABITANTS OF THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES IN NORTH LEBANON AND THE REGION OF THE CEDARS. HENCE, ST. SIMEON IS ACCREDITED WITH CONVERTING LARGE PORTIONS OF LEBANON TO CHRISTIANITY. UPON HIS DEATH, A CHURCH WAS BUILT BETWEEN ALEPPO AND ANTIOCH, SYRIA, AROUND THE PILLAR UPON WHICH HE LIVED. AS EVIDENCED BY THE REMAINS OF THE BUILDING, STILL IN EXISTENCE TODAY, ALL AUTHORITIES AGREE THAT IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST MAGNIFICENT CHURCHES IN THE WORLD. THE MARONITE CHURCH BUILT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS BY FR. DON SAWYER, IS PATTERNED AFTER THE CHURCH OF SIMEON IN SYRIA. (ABRAHAM OF CYRRHUS APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NARRATOR NO. 2: ANOTHER OF ST. MARON'S DISCIPLES IS ABRAHAM OF CYRRHUS, WHO FOUNDED A MONASTERY NEAR THE SOURCE OF THE RIVER ADONIS IN AKOURA, HIGH IN THE LEBANESE MOUNTAINS. ABRAHAM AND THE DISCIPLES OF ST. SIMEON WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONVERTING MANY OF THE PHOENICIAN INHABITANTS OF LEBANON TO CHRISTIANITY. FOLLOWING ABRAHAM'S DEATH, THE LEBANESE OF THE AREA CHANGED THE NAME OF THE RIVER ADONIS TO "NAHR IBRAHIM", OR THE "RIVER OF ABRAHAM", AS IT IS KNOWN TODAY. ABRAHAM: WHEN I LEARNED THAT PAGANISM STILL REIGNED IN AN IMPORTANT TOWN IN THE LEBANESE MOUNTAINS THAT WAS INHABITED BY DESCENDANTS OF THE PHOENICIANS, I AND SOME DISCIPLES OF ST. SIMEON WENT THERE AND PRESENTED OURSELVES AS TRADERS IN WALNUTS. IN TIME, WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN CONVERTING THE ENTIRE POPULATION TO CHRISTIANITY. EVENTUALLY WE BUILT A MONASTERY AND HUNDREDS OF CHURCHES WERE THEREAFTER ERECTED THROUGHOUT LEBANON. NARRATOR NO. 1: FOR CENTURIES THEREAFTER, THE MARONITE MONKS, WITH THEIR EPARCHY IN ANTIOCH, SYRIA, WERE CONSIDERED THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE ENTIRE ARAMAIC SEGMENT OF THE CHALCEDONIAN POPULATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST. HOWEVER, IN THE 7TH CENTURY, SYRIA AND THE CHRISTIAN BYZANTINE EMPIRE FELL TO THE PERSIAN AND ISLAMIC INVADERS FROM THE SOUTH AND FROM THE EAST, AND THIS WOULD THREATEN THE VERY FABRIC OF THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCH. NARRATOR NO. 2: WHEN THAT OCCURRED, THE BYZANTINE PATRIARCHAL SEE IN ANTIOCH WAS ABANDONED. THE CALAMITY CAUSED THE MAJORITY OF THE MARONITES RESIDING IN SYRIA TO FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON WHERE MANY OF THEIR FAITHFUL LIVED. AND THE PATRIARCHAL SEE IN ANTIOCH WOULD REMAIN ABANDONED FOR DECADES. (ST. JOHN MARON APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NARRATOR NO. 1: TO FILL THE VOID, THE MARONITES AND THEIR MONKS TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO ELECT ST. JOHN MARON AS THEIR PATRIARCH. BORN NEAR ANTIOCH, SYRIA, ST. JOHN WAS TRAINED IN THE MONASTERY OF ST. MARON. HE WAS SERVING AS BISHOP OF BATROUN, LEBANON, WHEN HE WAS ELECTED THE FIRST PATRIARCH OF THE MARONITE RITE IN 685 A.D. ST. JOHN MARON: UPON BEING ELECTED PATRIARCH, I IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISHED AND CONSECRATED LEBANON AS THE NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS HOMELAND OF THE MARONITES. AS EXPECTED, THE MARONITE COMMUNITY OF LEBANON ORGANIZED TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND THIS DECISION TO NAME LEBANON AS OUR NATIONAL HOMELAND, NOT ONLY AS A HIERARCHICAL CHURCH, BUT ALSO AS A MILITARY BODY TO DEFEND OUR FAITH. NARRATOR NO. 2: THE ELECTION OF ST. JOHN MARON WAS CHALLENGED BY THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR OF CONSTANTINOPLE WHO INSISTED THAT IT WAS HIS RIGHT TO NAME THE PATRIARCHAL SEE OF ANTIOCH, NOT THAT OF THE MARONITE PEOPLE AND THEIR MONKS. (POPE SERGIUS I APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NOTWITHSTANDING THE OBJECTIONS OF THE EMPEROR, THE ELECTION OF ST. JOHN MARON WAS ENDORSED AND LEGITIMIZED BY YET ANOTHER GREAT RELIGIOUS LEADER OF SYRIAN DESCENT, POPE SERGIUS I. POPE SERGIUS WAS BORN IN SYRIA AND WAS ELECTED POPE OF ROME IN THE YEAR 687 A.D., ONLY TWO YEARS AFTER ST. JOHN MARON WAS NAMED PATRIARCH. SERGIUS WAS ONE OF 3 POPES OF SYRIAN DESCENT ELECTED TO THE PAPACY IN THE 7TH AND 8TH CENTURIES. POPE SERGIUS: AFTER I WAS ELECTED POPE, ST. JOHN MARON TRAVELED TO ROME TO MEET WITH ME. HE REQUESTED MY BLESSINGS AND CONFIRMATION AS THE PATRIARCH OF THE MARONITE PEOPLE WITH A PATRIARCHAL SEE IN LEBANON. I IMMEDIATELY CONFIRMED AND BLESSED ST. JOHN MARON AS THE PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH. AS SOON AS I GAVE MY BLESSING, THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR, JUSTINIAN II, OBJECTED AND REFUSED TO HONOR MY CONFIRMATION. INSTEAD, JUSTINIAN SENT AN ARMY TO ROME FOR THE PURPOSE OF ARRESTING ME AND ST. JOHN MARON. NARRATOR NO. 1: BUT THE ROMAN ARMY ROSE TO THE POPE'S DEFENSE AND RAN JUSTINIAN AND HIS BYZANTINE ARMY OUT OF ROME AND BACK TO CONSTANTINOPLE. JUSTINIAN THEN RETREATED AND REDIRECTED HIS ARMY TO ANTIOCH. ST. JOHN MARON FLED TO THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON. WHEN JUSTINIAN PURSUED HIM INTO THE LEBANESE MOUNTAINS, THE ENTIRE MARONITE POPULATION AND ITS MILITARY CONTINGENT RALLIED AROUND THE PATRIARCH AND DEFEATED THE BYZANTINE ARMY. NARRATOR NO. 2: PROTECTED BY THE HOLY MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON, THE MARONITES AND THEIR PATRIARCHS HAVE SURVIVED THE TEST OF TIME. THEY HAVE BEEN A BASTION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOLY LAND WHERE THE FAITH WAS BORN. THEY HAVE ENDURED AS A COMMUNITY, KEEPING THE FLAME OF CHRISTIANITY ALIVE, WHILE ISOLATED FROM THE REST OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD IN THE WEST. NARRATOR NO. 1: BUT MANY SACRIFICES WOULD BE MADE OVER THE NEXT 1300 YEARS, EVEN THROUGH TODAY, BY THE CLERGY AND THE LAITY OF THE MARONITE FAITHFUL. (MASSABKI BROTHERS APPROACH THE PODIUM) SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE LAITY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR FAITH ARE THE MASSABKI BROTHERS, "FRANCIS", "ABDEL" AND "RAPHAEL", OF DAMASCUS. ALL THREE BROTHERS WERE EXTREMELY PIOUS AND DEEPLY ROOTED IN THEIR MARONITE FAITH. FRANCIS BECAME A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN, AND HIS GENEROSITY TOWARD PILGRIMS AND FOREIGNERS BECAME WELL KNOWN. IT IS TOLD THAT WHEN FRANCIS TRAVELED IN LEBANON, THE PEOPLE WOULD ANNOUNCE HIS ARRIVAL FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE BY TOLLING BELLS. FRANCIS: I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE ACQUIRED MUCH WEALTH DURING MY LIFETIME, WHEREAS MY BROTHER, RAFAEL, WAS POOR AND A SIMPLE BACHELOR, BUT RICH AND PURE IN HEART. MY BROTHER ABDEL LIVED IN MY HOME IN SOLITUDE WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN, AND DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO PRAYER AND MEDITATION. WITH MY WEALTH AND THE SPIRITUAL STRENGTH OF MY BROTHERS, OUR HOME WAS ALWAYS HELD OPEN TO THE MARONITE CLERGY AND FAITHFUL AS A REFUGE AND PLACE OF SOLITUDE. BECAUSE OF MY LOVE FOR THE CHURCH, I ALLOWED ALL MY ASSETS TO BE USED TO TEND TO THE SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE MARONITE PATRIARCH IN SYRIA. NARRATOR NO. 1: THE THREE BROTHERS MET THEIR DEATH IN 1860 AT THE HANDS OF AHMED PASHA, THE OTTOMAN RULER OF SYRIA, BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO RENOUNCE THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH. NARRATOR NO. 2: IN THE 19TH CENTURY, TWO DEVOUT MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY, ST. SHARBEL AND SISTER RAFKA, WOULD MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON THE ENTIRE MARONITE COMMUNITY, FOR THEIR DEDICATION AND SANCTITY: (SAINT SHARBEL APPROACHES THE PODIUM) ST. SHARBEL WAS BORN UNDER THE NAME OF "JOSEPH" IN 1828 IN THE VILLAGE OF BKA'KAFRA IN NORTHERN LEBANON IN THE VICINITY OF THE HOLY CEDARS. ALTHOUGH HIS FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD AND HIS FAMILY WAS DIVIDED, HE WAS STILL GIVEN THE FINEST CHRISTIAN UPBRINGING. HIS REPUTATION WAS THAT OF A VERY PIOUS PERSON, AND HE BECAME KNOWN AT AN EARLY AGE FOR HIS GODLINESS. ST. SHARBEL: AT THE AGE OF 23, I LEFT MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO JOIN THE MONASTERY. ULTIMATELY I ENTERED THE MONASTERY OF ST. MARON IN ANNAYA WHERE I MADE SOLEMN VOWS, DONNED THE MONASTIC HOOD, AND TOOK THE NAME "SHARBEL" AFTER A 4TH CENTURY MARTYR WHOM I ADMIRED. IN 1859, I WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST AND I SPENT 38 YEARS AT THE HERMITAGE OF THE SAINTS "PETER AND PAUL" ON TOP OF ANNAYA MOUNTAIN. I SOUGHT PIETY AND HUMILITY. MY CONTEMPORARIES CONSIDERED ME TO BE DEAD TO THE WORLD BECAUSE I CONSECRATED MY ENTIRE LIFE, BODY AND SOUL, TO GOD ALONE. NARRATOR NO. 2: MANY MIRACLES WERE ATTRIBUTED TO FATHER SHARBEL BOTH DURING HIS LIFETIME AND AFTER HIS DEATH. ON DECEMBER 24, 1898, HE DIED, BUT HIS BODY REMAINED IN AN UNCORRUPTED STATE FOR 54 YEARS. HE WAS CANONIZED TO SAINTHOOD BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE YEAR 1977. (BLESSED RAFKA APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NARRATOR NO. 1: BLESSED RAFKA WAS BORN IN 1833 IN THE VILLAGE OF HIMLAYA, NEAR BIKFAYA, UNDER THE GIVEN NAME OF "PETRONILLA". RAFKA ENTERED THE CONVENT, TOOK RELIGIOUS VOWS AND REMAINED PART OF THAT CONGREGATION FOR 20 YEARS. RAFKA: ONE NIGHT I HAD A DREAM IN WHICH AN ELDERLY MAN APPEARED TO ME AND TOLD ME TO JOIN THE BALADITE ORDER WHICH OPERATED THE CONVENT OF ST. SIMEON THE STYLITE IN AYTU, LEBANON, NEAR THE CITY OF EHDEN. IN PURSUIT OF THIS VISION, I WENT TO THE MONASTERY OF ST. SIMEON AND SAW HIS PICTURE HANGING ON THE WALL AND REALIZED THAT IT WAS ST. SIMEON WHO HAD APPEARED IN MY DREAMS. IN 1873, I JOINED HIS CONVENT, CHANGED MY NAME TO REBECCA, OR "RAFKA", AFTER MY MOTHER, AND I MADE SOLEMN VOWS OFFICIALLY DEDICATING MY LIFE TO CHRIST. NARRATOR NO. 1: IN 1885, BLESSED REBECCA BECAME ILL. HER AFFLICTIONS WERE PROGRESSIVE AND ADVANCED TO HER EYES, REQUIRING THE REMOVAL OF, FIRST, ONE EYE AND, SEVERAL YEARS LATER, OF THE OTHER. IN HER OLD AGE, SHE WAS TOTALLY BLIND AND DECREPIT. SHE DIED IN 1914 AT THE AGE OF 82, HER BROKEN BODY RACKED WITH PAIN. THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS WOULD COME TO HER GRAVE SITE TO TAKE "DIRT FROM THE TOMB OF ST. REBECCA" TO HEAL THEIR AILMENTS. SINCE 1914, ALMOST 2,700 MIRACLES AND FAVORS WERE GRANTED TO THE SICK AND THOSE AFFLICTED WITH INFIRMITIES AND DISEASES THROUGH HER INTERCESSION. (HARDEENI APPROACHES THE PODIUM) NARRATOR NO. 2: ON MAY 10, 1998, POPE JOHN PAUL II RECOGNIZED YET ANOTHER MONK FROM THE HOLY MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON WHO IS CREDITED WITH MIRACLES. BLESSED NIMUTALLAH KASSEB AL-HARDEENI WAS BEATIFIED BY THE POPE ON THAT DAY AT SAINT PETER'S BASILICA IN ROME. YOUSSEF KASSEB WAS BORN IN HARDEEN IN THE BATROUN REGION OF LEBANON, AROUND 1810. HE BECAME A NOVICE AT SAINT ANTHONY'S MONASTERY IN QOZHAYA IN THE HOLY VALLEY OF QANNOUBINE IN NOVEMBER OF 1830. HARDEENI: I TOOK MY MONASTIC VOWS TWO YEARS LATER, IN NOVEMBER OF 1832. AFTER COMPLETING MY THEOLOGICAL STUDIES AT THE MONASTERY, I WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST. THEREAFTER, I SERVED AT THE MONASTERY WHERE I INSTRUCTED CHILDREN AND ASSISTED AT BAPTISMS AND IN CELEBRATING THE EUCHARIST. I ALSO ASSUMED THE DUTIES OF ASSISTANT GENERAL OF THE LEBANESE MARONITE ORDER. I CONTINUED TO WORK AT BOOKBINDING WHILE AT THE MONASTERY AND CONTINUED TO TEACH AT VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF MY ORDER. AMONG MY MORE NOTABLE STUDENTS WAS BROTHER SHARBEL MAKHLOUF WHO BECAME "SAINT SHARBEL" IN 1977. NARRATOR NO. 2: FATHER NIMUTALLAH AL-HARDEENI DIED OF AN INCURABLE ILLNESS AT THE MONASTERY ON DECEMBER 14, 1858. SEVERAL CURES HAVE TAKEN PLACE THROUGH HIS INTERCESSION. THESE MIRACLES LED TO THE TRANSFER OF HIS BODY, THE SEALING OF HIS TOMB, AND THE SUBMISSION OF HIS CASE FOR BEATIFICATION TO THE APOSTOLIC SEE IN ROME ON MAY 4, 1926. HE WAS DECLARED VENERABLE ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1989, AND WAS BEATIFIED ON MAY 10, 1998. NARRATOR NO. 1: AND SO IT WAS THAT THE GLORY OF ANCIENT SYRIA AND LEBANON, AND OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH, STEEPED IN THE ANTIOCHENE-SYRIAC MONASTIC TRADITION FOUNDED BY ST. MARON, HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION; BEGINNING WITH JESUS CHRIST, OUR SAVIOR, TO HIS APOSTLES, TO THE DISCIPLES, TO THE MARTYRS, TO ST. MARON OUR PATRON SAINT, TO ST. JOHN MARON OUR FIRST PATRIARCH, AND TO ALL OUR SUCCEEDING PATRIARCHS, AND TO THE LAITY WHO HAVE GIVEN OF THEMSELVES FOR THE FAITH OF ST. MARON. (PAUSE) OVER THE YEARS, THE MARONITE FAITHFUL HAVE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, BUT WHEREVER THEY WENT, THEY TOOK WITH THEM THE FAITH OF ST. MARON AND THE FAITH OF THE MOUNTAINS. IN 1966 "THE HOUSE OF MARON" OFFICIALLY PLANTED ROOTS IN THE UNITED STATES WITH THE APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP FRANCIS M. ZAYEK, AS THE FIRST MARONITE APOSTOLIC EPARCHY FOR THE MARONITE COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES. SINCE THAT TIME, A SECOND EPARCHY WAS ESTABLISHED UNDER BISHOP JOHN CHEDID OF LOS ANGELES. WE HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS PRESENTATION. ON BEHALF OF OUR CHURCH, WE WISH YOU A HAPPY "ST. MARON'S DAY".  From this valley, over the centuries, have come many holy men and women. Among them are St. Sharbel, Blessed El-Hardini, and many other Maronite saints that have flourished in Lebanon and the East. |